Scientists around the world, the WHO and the governments of different countries are concerned about the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus. Until recently, cases of infection with it were recorded only in one province of South Africa, but in the last day one more patient was identified in Hong Kong, in Israel, and also in the countries of the European Union. Specialists are afraid of the imminent spread of the new variant around the world.
Currently, about 200 cases of a new variant of the coronavirus have been recorded, most of them in the South African province of Gauteng, new cases have already been noted in other countries of the world.
Great Britain has already canceled flights with six African countries - South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Eswatini. Prime Minister of Israel Naftala Bennett announced on Friday that flights from most African countries will be banned.
On Friday, the WHO held an emergency meeting devoted to the new danger, at which the variant was assigned a Greek name - by analogy with Alpha, Beta and Delta. The new strain was named "Omicron".
According to scientists, the new strain is very different from all the previous ones.
"This option surprised us. He made a big evolutionary leap and went through about 50 mutations," Professor Tulio de Oliveira, head of the South African Epidemiological Response Center, said at a press briefing.
About 30 out of 50 mutations affected the so-called spike protein — spikes on the virus's shell, resembling the sun's corona in outline, with the help of which the virus penetrates human cells.
This is the most alarming feature of the new variant, scientists say, since most vaccines work precisely to neutralize these spikes.
The second part of the virus, which comes into contact with the body after the spike protein made its way into the cell, mutated into a new version 10 times. For comparison, in the Delta version, this segment of the virus made only two mutations.
Thus, "Omicron" is much more contagious and deadly than "Delta".
